With more than 40 locations, Catholic Healthcare West was managing user identities across hundreds of applications running on multiple platforms. A streamlined identity management solution running on Linux has increased security and improved regulatory compliance, while dramatically reducing costs.

The advantages of running Linux are well known - lower costs, better adherence to open standards, no domineering corporate power, better security, etc. However, there's one area where Linux users are subject to all the same challenges and pitfalls as other systems: corporate e-mail. E-mail remains the single biggest source of security breaches and IT headaches simply because most Linux-based IT departments still rely on Microsoft Exchange Server for their e-mail. And, because Microsoft Exchange Server has such a large installed user base, it remains a favorite target of hackers and spammers.

One of the most serious problems facing larger organizations considering using Linux and Open Source application stacks is managing the software environment. The basic Linux system has adequate tools to manage a single machine, or even a small group of machines, but once the population of these machines reaches into the tens and hundreds and spreads across multiple application areas and multiple locations the management task becomes harder.

The DOE funds Sandia to find high-efficiency, low-emission solutions to complex combustion problems. As part of this mission, the CRF conducts complex simulations and analysis of turbulent reacting flows to study interactions between fluid dynamics and combustion chemistry that affect the performance and emissions of combustion devices.

Tulane University is home to the Center for Computational Science (CCS), a unique facility designed to provide computational resources for research projects across many disciplines. The Center provides an infrastructure for investigators interested in computational science to exchange ideas, produce research, and establish new collaborations.

RSA MicroTech produces and distributes industrial fertilizer products to coast-to-coast wholesalers from four production facilities connected through their headquarters in Marysville, Washington. Orders range from a few hundred up to tens of thousands of dollars and total between $12 million and $15 million in annual sales.

Inveneo is a non-profit, social enterprise organization that designs, integrates and deploys affordable, sustainable, open ICT (Information, Communications, Technology) solutions for NGOs (Non-Government Organizations) and the remote communities/villages they serve worldwide.

Open source telephony will play a key role in keeping North American companies competitive in today's global marketplace. Not only does open source reduce upfront and operational costs, it increases productivity and furthers innovation in ways proprietary technologies cannot.

Strike a perfect balance between business and technology needs by finding a cost-effective server and operating environment with the large addressable memory space required to power memory-resident database technology.

Justin Smith thinks in practical terms. As CTO of Guilford County Government in North Carolina, budgetary concerns were the driving force in his considering Open Source technologies. Smith saved an estimated $27,000 a year by replacing two servers on the edge of his network, and began to train his staff for future Linux deployments.

This article describes how an industry-leading online pharmacy safely and successfully fills thousands of prescriptions each day using an ordering and workflow system built on top of SUSE Linux and Emic's clustering application solution.

Data protection is never more vital than in the world of health care, where sensitive and life-impacting data is the cornerstone of medicine. More than 3,600 physicians in 26 states turn to our company for outsourced claims reimbursement management, making backup and recovery as critical as the reliable Linux platform.

From the start it seemed obvious. In building an electronic voting system (known to the industry as a DRE, or Direct Recording Electronic), you must follow four key principles:

The NAIS (NASA Acquisition Internet Service) organization provides procurement Web applications for the entire agency through a suite of 14 applications. Tools relating to efficient procurement, such as posting solicitations and looking up past performance data for contracts, are provided via the online service.

Since its beginning in 1982, Orbital Sciences has become a pioneer in developing smaller rockets and satellite systems for such diverse purposes as intercepting hostile missiles launched against the U.S. or launching satellites for better cellular phone reception. With a range of space and satellite systems, plus the added responsibility of supporting virtually all of the country's major missile defense programs, Orbital relies on massive amounts of computing power to continually optimize and simulate launch vehicles for reliability and accuracy.

Mindbridge, the makers of IntraSmart, a software suite for intranet applications, always purchased PC clones for desktop machines. The cost of the hardware came to about $250 each, without the operating system. Testa suddenly realized that they spent twice as much on the desktop software as they did on the hardware, including the operating system, office suite, and Windows client access licenses. He knew something was wrong with this picture. Through a gradual process, almost all of the 50+ employees are now running a Linux desktop.

When the North Carolina Cooperative Extension needed to overhaul the computer system for 1,200 users in multiple remote locations, systems programmer administrator Janyne Kizer found that Linux on thin clients was the best solution.

The Associated Press (AP), the world's oldest and largest news agency, offers a service that allows news providers to integrate AP online content directly into their Web sites. The service, AP Hosted News, is used by approximately 600 affiliate newspapers and broadcasters. The service handles between 150,000 and 500,000 pages of content per affiliate per day, supporting 11,000 concurrent users.

There has been some controversy recently over a Microsoft-commissioned TCO (total cost of ownership) study claiming that the long-term cost of Windows is lower than that of Linux. It's time to clear up the confusion.